London suffered a fresh gun killing when a man was shot dead in a street in the east of the capital, as the murders of three teenage boys in 11 days continued to make headlines.

Scotland Yard said Saturday an armed unit was sent to the Hackney district at 5:34 am (0534 GMT) after receiving reports of shots being fired, and found a man on the ground injured.

The victim -- a black man in his 20s -- was taken to hospital but pronounced dead just before 6:00 am, a spokesman said.

The domestic Press Association news agency said the man was sitting in a car at the time and two black men were seen running from the scene.

The killing will be investigated by detectives from Operation Trident, the Metropolitan Police's specialist unit set up to deal with gun crime within London's black community, it said.

The teenagers' deaths in south London have prompted fears that a gun culture among black youngsters in inner city areas is spiralling out of control and questions about its causes.

Meanwhile in Manchester, police said Saturday that two teenagers and a man were shot and injured in two separate incidents overnight.

In the first, an 18-year-old was hit in the back in the inner city Moss Side district at about 9:00 pm Friday near where a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed in September last year, provoking a similar outcry to the London deaths.

The second, less than three miles (five kilometres) away in the Longsight area, left a 19-year-old youth and a 27-year-old man with arm and back injuries when their car was shot at from another vehicle as they waited at traffic lights.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said none of the injuries was life threatening.

The London deaths have led to armed police patrols in known gun crime hotspots. The majority of police in Britain do not carry guns and shootings are still relatively rare.

Urgent meetings have also taken place between police, politicians and community leaders to try to combat the problem.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday that initiatives to tackle gangs, guns and drug culture would be set out within days.

Medula Oblongata

02-17-2007, 06:46 PM

How can this be!?!

Weren't all handguns outlawed, and most rifles too?

abpt1

02-17-2007, 07:13 PM

You know as long as guns are on this planet if they are legal or illegal there will be BG with them this is from a few monthes ago.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/5221414.stm

Medula Oblongata

02-17-2007, 07:32 PM

But its just not possible for there to be gun violence in a nation that has outlawed guns!

At least that's what they claim when they enact them 'anti-violence' laws...

abpt1

02-17-2007, 07:45 PM

how true...........Yah its not doing much for public safety over there.

Megatron

02-17-2007, 09:16 PM

Would you believe that now in the UK they want not only to further restrict ownership of de-activated weapons, but to ban them altogether as well? :rolleyes:

Since the UK has imposed ridiculous restrictions on long guns and the total ban of legal handgun ownership, crimes involving knives have sharply increased. I've read an article in Soldier Of Fortune last year where the UK wanted to impose a ban on knives. I guess that if something like that would pass into law, they can forget about buttering their bread, chopping those onions, and cutting their steaks. :rolleyes:

Criminals will simply resort to using tools such as hammers, screwdrivers, and wrenches as weapons. What are those politicians gonna do? Knowing them, they'll propose a ban on tools. :rolleyes: I guess that would mean that nothing will be built and fixed anymore should a ban like that becomes law. :rolleyes:

When will they truly learn?

Medula Oblongata

02-17-2007, 10:13 PM

There is now a ban, in Scotland (and soon to be elsewhere in GB), that restricts non-cooking knives. It also bans cooking knives with points. All knives must be turned into the police so they can blunt the points.

Interestingly enough, the #1 tool of assassins in Britian is poison, and has been throughout their entire recorded history. The incidence of poisioning has only increased recently.. Guess its time to ban liquid drano and anti-freeze...

abpt1

02-17-2007, 10:20 PM

I got it make everyone wear full safety gear helmets and football pads maybe no one will ever die then ....

Megatron

02-17-2007, 11:10 PM

There is now a ban, in Scotland (and soon to be elsewhere in GB), that restricts non-cooking knives. It also bans cooking knives with points. All knives must be turned into the police so they can blunt the points.

That's not surprising that a ban like that got passed into law.

Interestingly enough, the #1 tool of assassins in Britian is poison, and has been throughout their entire recorded history. The incidence of poisioning has only increased recently.. Guess its time to ban liquid drano and anti-freeze...

Don't be surprised if someone over there has already proposed a ban on antifreeze, drain cleaners, and pest killers.

I got it make everyone wear full safety gear helmets and football pads maybe no one will ever die then ....

Just make everyone wear a suit of armor and they can all look like that comic-book superhero Iron Man and Optimus Prime. :lmao: